Golden

 

Golden

Gazania (Treasure flower)

Monday was a bright, golden day. There had been a slight frost overnight and the air felt crisp and fresh. The forecast for cooler temperatures, particularly overnight, galvanised us into action. It was time for the house plants to bid a fond adieu to the garden and come indoors again, to relish the warmth and shelter, and dream of next year’s summer holiday. Suddenly, the conservatory was full once more, although it wasn’t noticeably empty before this exercise.

The months spent outdoors have strengthened the plants and encouraged them to grow. There is much pruning and splitting and repotting to be done, tasks for the days ahead.

 Doubtless, some little creatures have made their way inside and will have to be relocated. Tiny arachnids and molluscs will be much happier in the airy outside, their natural habitat.

Ivy-leaved toadflax is an indomitable squatter and springs up everywhere, quite as much as herb Robert. Both of them are much loved and admired in their right positions – outside! – but their determination to dominate the world is not acceptable indoors.

Ivy-leaved toadflax, Kenilworth ivy, Oxford ivy, Pennywort and many more

Herb robert, Storksbill, Crow's foot, Fox geranium and more

Some plants are looking a little ragged, having provided succulent feasts for untold beasties, but they will recover and throw out new leaves.

Poor avocado!  The comment from my app was, 'This plant looks okay, but can be better!'

I'm sure the avocado will survive and thrive. However, the one below, the Pachira, or Money tree, elicited the comment, 'This plant looks sick!.' 

I must agree and am not overly optimistic, but time will tell.

Echeveria, with Pink moonstone succulent to right

The clivias are taking over! This one is past its best, but has a cluster of new buds. There are now six or seven that require splitting and repotting. I think some may be finding new homes among the family. They are all descendants of the one plant I gave my mother more than thirty years ago.

Meanwhile, the plants that normally live outside continue to thrive.

Lobelia

Nasturtium

Antirrhinum

 Some of the annuals, like the nasturtiums, are still flowering, while at the same time, the first of the Mahonia japonica has thrust out magnificent, perfumed spears of yellow flowers, a feast for late-flying bees.

Mahonia japonica (the netting is part of the cat enclosure)

Happy days!

First aid

 

First aid

Cross stitch waiting to be started

I wasn’t expecting to use the bee remedy I mentioned in yesterday’s post so soon, if at all, but this morning, Barry found a bee on the conservatory floor. He picked her up and took her outside away from curious cats and dogs.

I mixed a sugar water solution and fed it to the bee, which was very sluggish and disorientated. After several minutes I picked her up on a stem of herb robert (Geranium robertianum, wild geranium) and put her on a ceanothus flower. She is breathing and moving around, but not making any effort to fly, and it is now several hours since she was first found. It is also rather cool and breezy, not the best conditions for a weakly bee, so I don’t really hold out much hope for her, but at least she’s got a full tummy.

I don’t know what species of bee she is; all I do know is that she is not a honey bee. She is such a little creature, so fragile, so important.

Another cross stitch waiting to be started

November garden

 

November garden

 
Antirrhinum, snapdragon, bunny mouth

Nasturtiums

Variegated nasturtium leaves. The marbling on these leaves is beautiful.

                            Herb Robert - Geranium robertianum

I love this wildflower that grows so freely in the garden. The foliage turns red as the plant matures. The leaves and flowers are edible, fresh or dried, and can be made into a tea. It is thought to repel mosquitoes if the leaves are rubbed on the skin.

Mahonia japonica flowers from late autumn to early spring and is a valuable source of pollen for early bumblebees. It has a strong sweet scent, a delight on a still winter day.

                                Three of the stages of raspberries 

Raspberries

I ate two  raspberries from the garden on Wednesday. I don’t think the rest will ripen now.

Courgette with teaspoon for comparison of size

This is from our courgette plant. I think it will be fine, maybe stuffed.

                                             Sweet pepper

                                                    Chillies

Begonia fuchsioides indoor plant in the last days of its summer holiday. It will have to come back into the conservatory soon.

Macro Monday

Thank you to Lisa of 'Lisa's Chaos' for organising and hosting this meme. Click on her name to visit and see more mesmerising macros.

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) or wild geranium is a very common cranesbill, seeding itself freely around the garden. I suppose it is technically a weed but I love to see it growing with wild abandon in nooks and crannies and next to snootier plants.The flowers are pinkish-mauve and the stems turn a beautiful red as the plant ages.  It can easily overshadow other plants, developing height and spread according to the space in which it's growing so has to be controlled. It roots very shallowly so is easy to pull up and, like all geraniums, the foliage has a pungent smell which I like but many don't.
Strictly speaking, this photograph is not a macro shot as it has been cropped from a larger photograph.

Today's Flowers #98 lilies

I've lost the label for these lilies! They are Asiatic lilies growing with herb robert.

They are splendid, showy flowers but have no scent. So far this year I've only found one lily beetle - we had loads last year.

Thank you to the Today's Flowers team for tirelessly organising and hosting this meme. Click here to see more flowers around the world.